Some Expectations
by R3wind101
Summary: Sometimes life throws a bulldozer your way instead of a curveball. Camila's junior year gets interesting, used to being a social outcast at school she becomes sceptical of the path ahead of her as relationships bloom, help is needed and fears are overcome.


**Okayyyy so it's no secret i've been gone a while... a long while. But I'm trying to make a slight comeback ish. I felt like i outgrew my old writing and I needed new fresh stuff to work with. Which means new stories starting with this one. :)**

_She hated it here, it was the absolute worst. Her family just moved from Cuba to Miami. In the beginning she was so excited, her parents talked about how she would love the new house and the beaches, the food and experience new things. And she did, she loved their new house. Her room was so big she felt like a princess, she loved how wide and green the garden was and the wooden floor was so shiny. Her mami was right the food was amazing. She liked her papa's smile when he got his new job, she thought America was the best place on earth. But then three weeks went by and her excitement soon shattered._

_Apparently her parents liked the idea of forcing her to go to kindergarten against her will. She was anxious at first. Seeing kids her age run around through the gate and hearing their screams made her tummy feel funny. She liked her home, at home it was just her, mami and papa and it was quiet. Her mami tried to make her feel better, she said it was going to be one of the fun new experiences and how she would make lots of friends. Reluctantly, she let her mother's hand go__ and followed the teacher down the hall._

_The second she set foot into the room she felt the pit of her stomach drop. Though her teacher gave her an encouraging smile, guiding her to the front of the class, everyone's eyes immediately zoned in on her. Kids sat at their desks watching her expectantly. She suddenly felt sick._

_"Everyone, we have a new student with us today! Everyone give a warm welcome to Karla." The mention of her name made her jump slightly and she realised everyone was still looking at her. "Karla would you like to say hi." The teacher encouraged softly. Her English was still very limited but her parents taught her the basics like 'hi', 'bye', 'please' and 'thank you'. And even though she knew she could say these simple words with ease they got stuck in her throat. Overwhelmed by everyone's gaze she diverted her eyes to the ground, muttering a weak hello. Her teacher must have sensed her discomfort and ended her suffering. Telling her to take any seat she liked. Quickly spotting the lone desk in the back corner she wasted no time rushing towards it, keeping her head down._

_She barely registered anything else that happened around her. Engrossed on colouring in her animals the chair in front of her squeaked making her look up. Dark brown eyes looked at her blankly, a small frown framing her face making her squirm. Her eyes glanced down at her desk where her crayons sat. "You have the last red. Give it." Her mami always told her sharing was important and though she didn't have a problem giving things to others this was moment she was unsure of. She didn't know this girl, and she wasn't a fan of how she was talking to her. "Hellooooo," the girl tapped her fingers impatiently. "Are you stupid? Can you talk?"_

_"Si, puedo hablar" if anything her response made the girl frown more. That sick feeling in her stomach was back._

_"You're not speaking properly are you broken? Is that why you're so quiet?" The girl gave her a hard look making her sink deeper into her seat which only seemed to please her. A mean glint flashed in her eye before she snatched to red out of the packet, pointing the tip of the crayon at her face. "Mute. I'm calling you Mute." She didn't appreciate how her words sounded but she kept her mouth shut anyway. The girl turned her back on her and she released a small breath._

_She __hated it here._

A gentle finger poked the side of her face. Grunting in annoyance, she made an attempt to roll away but a heavy weight stopped her from doing so. "Camila come on, mami is waiting." Blinking the sleep out of her eyes Camila squinted up at her sister who sat comfortably perched on her stomach. A cheeky grin spread across her face.

"Ugh Sofia! Did you have to sit on me to wake me up." Craning her head to the side her eyes glanced at her alarm clock.

"Mom said if you were still sleeping I could wake you up however I liked." Shuffling off her sister's body Sofia dragged the blanket off her and tossed it to the side. "You have 20 minutes to be ready or mom said your walking to school."

Pushing herself up on her elbows Camila chanced a glance out her window, seeing the sunlight peeking through her blinds. "Fuck." She lowly muttered. Unfortunately she still wasn't alone.

"Oooo you said a bad word. I'm telling mami."

"Sofia! Sal de mi habitacion!" Reaching for the closest thing next to her she felt her pillow under her hand, chucking it in the direction of her voice she was met with a small giggle and her door slamming shut.

That girl had no sense of boundaries.

Before her mother could charge up after her herself, Camila stumbled over to her dresser. School was never something as a fashion show to her. She wasn't a fan of bold and flashy and couldn't afford anything high end and expensive even if she wanted to, so simple and comfy suited her perfectly as she pulled on her favourite baggy sweater. She was anything but prepared for her first day of junior year, rushing around her room she gathered a few books and carelessly shoved them in her bag, hopping into her jeans she almost tumbled making a detour to the bathroom. A quick glance at her reflection made her cringe in disgust. She still had bed head, under eye bags and the aftertaste of sleep on her tongue. Attempting to tame her mane with her fingers she brushed her teeth in lightening speed, hearing an impatient honk in the distance she rolled her eyes. "I'm coming!" Knowing full well no one could hear her. Slipping on her already tied shoes she slammed the door shut behind her. Her mom ready at the steering wheel while Sofia smilled slyly in the back strapped in.

"Took you long enough." Sofia couldn't help but voice the second Camila's butt touched the seat. Rolling her eyes at her sister's comment she narrowed her eyes playfully at the mirror as her mom drove out their street. It took five minutes to pass before Sinu started her annual first day of school pep talk.

"So girls how we feeling? First day back at school." Per usual Camila lets her sister do most of the talking since she's the only one who was actually looking forward to going back and only in the second grade. Her bubbly tone did lighten the atmosphere of the car as she talked about how excited she was to see her friends and teachers and what they might learn.

Sofia is the first to get dropped off. She could see her sister practically bounce in her seat just looking at the place.

(That was definitely not a mutual feeling they shared.)

Before Sinu could help Sofia out the car the girl tapped on Camila's shoulder presenting a wide grin. "I hope you have a good first day, Kaki "

"Thanks. You weirdo."

"You're a bigger one." Was her last resort before hopping out of the car. Camila watched as her mother gave Sofia a wet kiss on her cheek,that she quickly wiped away, before she ran to her friends near the entrance. She loved seeing her sister so giddy.

"So real talk." Sinu started once she got back in the car, driving past the gates she made a sharp turn. "How are you really feeling about today." It was a well known fact how much Camila despised going to school. For as long as she's been attending she has never made any friends, having a very low social school experience and for years her parents reassured her she'd make friends eventually and encouraged her to put herself out there more. As child she believed them, now that she was in her junior year of high school she lost any hope of that happening a while ago. She tried not to let it bother her but when she six year old sister had a better social life than her it got pretty hard.

Deciding against voicing her actual doubts she glanced out her window and gave a lazy shrug. "You know. Same old same old."

"Mija, I know school isn't you favourite place the world to you but things gradually get better over time and maybe this year will be different. Special." Though she gave up on the concept of making friends a long time ago her parents were still pretty optimistic about it. She always got the same inspirational pep talk from them everytime the first day of school rolled around. It's not like she didn't appreciate their high spirits but she's reached a point where she wished they'd just stop. She'd never say that out loud though.

Feeling the car pull to a stop she blinked and fixed her gaze forward. Watching the countless bodies swarm past the entrance idly chatting away.

The school was filled with preppy and prestige girls and testosterone junkie jocks, it was a pretty well known school with it's golden football team and brilliant academic clubs. From other perspectives people admired the school and thrived, in her personal opinion it is a perfect representation of the underworld. But with much more hormones.

"Knock 'em dead, Mija." Sending her mom a warm smile Camila thanked her for the ride and slide out the car. Shuffling her bag on her shoulder she couldn't stop the small wince that came as she gazed up the building.

The hallway was busy as expected. That first day buzz was in air, the excitement of reuniting with friends after a long summer, sharing summer stories, nervous freshman searching for their lockers all while desperately trying to spot a familiar face over the sea of students. It's not like she hated everything about school per say. She loved her lessons. English, History and Music were her top subjects and her teachers were always so proud of her work. She had the music room to herself at breaks. And the library had a great collection of books.

In that aspect school had its ups.

Walking up to her locker Camila wasted no time shoving unwanted books inside. She had a few minutes left before her first class so she wasn't in that much of a rush. Choosing instead to mindlessly scroll through Instagram.

"Long time no see, mute." In this very moment she could practically feel every rotation her stomach was doing. Yes, the school had it's ups. But it also had this one thing that made everything unbearably cruel.

The students.

If it wasn't obvious enough it was pretty clear she had no friends. No one to tackle into a hug after a long break and squeal about how amazing summer was. Almost next to no one really knew she existed since she was basically the schools resident geeky loner. Almost. Because unfortunately only one person was painfully aware of her existence.

Slowly closing her locker, her senses were already overtaken by that sweet smelling Chanel perfume that's been haunting her since the beginning of high school. Releasing a small breath Camila turned around. Her gaze immediately locking onto similar brown eyes, except if anything the others were more piercing.

From her polished black heels, to her neatly done nails, her skin was tan, mini skirt showing off her strong legs, her signature lengthy ponytail cascaded down to her lower back and handbag that probably coast more than Camila and her sister's wardrobe combined stood the biggest threat of her life.

Ariana Grande. Queen bee of Miami High.

The whole school either adored her or was too scared to voice anything remotely negative about her. She had top grades, the highest form of popularity and from a wealth family. A typical mean girl cliche if you asked Camila.

Now why would someone so high on the school food chain be standing in front of Camila Cabello, as explained before basically invisible to the public eye, staring at her with such intensity that would be enough to make anyone spontaneously combust?

Till this day Camila has no real clue. Ever since her feet touched the Miami soil Ariana put a target on her back. Since kindergarten, through middle school and now high school. 'Mute' unfortunately, was a nickname she's been branded with since day one and  
got stuck with.

From behind Ariana's shoulder she was not surprised to see one of her little minions close behind her. Bright blonde hair chopped into a lob was Taylor Swift. No matter what Ariana said or did Taylor would always follow through without hesitation. Head of the cheerleading squad Taylor could be painfully naive at times. And so far up Ariana's ass.

"You didn't think I'd forget all about you did ya?" Tilting her head to the side she was practically leering down on her thanks to her heels.

"Always a pleasure to see you, Ariana." Camila forced out. "I have class."

"Hold on." Sticking out her arm her hand hit the locker behind her, blocking her escape to class. "What's the hurry. We still have five minutes to catch up. Not that you would contribute much to the conversation since you spent the summer being an anti-social pathetic hermit." Camila didn't respond. Mostly because it was spot on, she spent the summer binge watching shows, reading and hanging out with her sister as some sort of social balance. But still, the pang in her chest always hurt whenever she was reminded that she had no one to hang out with.

Half listening to Ariana boast about her holiday to Europe, she jumped slightly at the sound of the bell signalling the beginning of classes. If it was even possible Ariana leered closer making her back hit the lockers behind her. Blowing a sarcastic kiss her way her long ponytail brushed across her face as she walked away, Taylor close behind her.

This was gonna be a long day.

As if to kick start this horrible day she has to endure the bore of assembly. Unsurprisingly being forced to sit on a hard bench whilst her headmaster droned on and on about school rules and expectations for the upcoming year didn't really appeal to her, but what really cut into her was she had no one to sit with. It was sad to see everyone huddled and comfortable in their own little cliques, chatting till their hearts content until the teachers ordered them to stop, unlike her, she sat in the very back in the corner, alone. Even though nobody noticed or even cared it was still humiliating to be so isolated from the rest of her class.

"Welcome back juniors for another exciting year!" The headmaster boomed into the microphone. Shutting down all conversations as well as her thoughts. "I hope everyone is prepared for a tough year of studying this year, these next two years will be the hardest you'll ever work to get you into college." The idea of college made her want to throw up on the spot. She had absolutely no idea what she wanted to do. "Now before anything else I have a few announcements that-" he was rudely cut off by the harsh swing of the doors opening. Every head in the room turned to see the distribution and at the sight everyone showed different expressions.

The headmaster's speech dying on his tongue as his face dropping to indifference at who interrupted him.

In all clad of black her own face was blank as she stared straight ahead. Heeled boots clicked against the polished wood as eyes followed her with a mix of awe, confusion and unease though the questioning stares didn't seem to faze her as she took a seat at the front in the corner.

As an attempt to regain composer, the headmaster continued. "As I was saying, this school year will prepare you for any upcoming challenges you will face..." Her principles speech stopped reaching her ears as she continued to stare at the head with ruffled black locks as one big question spirled in her mind as well as everyone else's.

What was senior bad girl Lauren Jauregui doing at her junior welcome back assembly?


End file.
